30 April, 2016

FBI could soon legally hack any computer in the US ... and possibly beyond

The Supreme
Court approved new rules on Thursday that would potentially give the
FBI the authority to hack any computer in the United States, and
potentially computers located overseas as well. Those hidden by Tor
technology will also be vulnerable. Now the Congress have until
December 1 to either approve the rule, reject or make changes to it –
then any magistrate judge in the country could grant the FBI warrants
authorizing hacks into computers whose whereabouts are unknown.

[...]

Under the
phrase “concealed through technological means,” the court is
referring to computers whose location is hidden via the use of
anonymity software such as the Tor web browser.

Currently,
magistrate judges cannot issue warrants for “remote searches” to
the FBI if law enforcement doesn’t know where a computer in
question is physically located, since its location could potentially
be outside of the court’s jurisdiction.

Not only
does the new rule change that, it also could allow the FBI to gain
access to computers that have been already hacked by malicious
software, meaning that victims of cyberattacks could see their
computers searched by the government. If a computer is suspected to
be part of compromised network, that network could also be searched.
If a computer is ultimately located overseas but hidden via Tor,
then authorities may potentially be able to hack into it as well.

[...]

The Supreme
Court’s approval comes as courts in Massachusetts and Oklahoma have
recently opted to toss out evidence collected by the government in
relation to child pornography investigations, since the original
search warrant obtained by the FBI came from a judge in Virginia. If
the new rules approved by the Supreme Court go into effect, the
evidence would have been allowed.

However, not
everyone is buying the Justice Department’s argument. Senator Ron
Wyden (D-Oregon) questioned the wisdom of the changes to Rule 41,
adding that he will ask the government to detail its hacking process.
He also said he will propose legislation to reverse the amendments.